Asked to confirm a New York Times report that US officials are considering recalling entire units of the old army, Rumsfeld said the idea is nothing new.

"It always was considered," Rumsfeld told reporters early Sunday. "We've had folks over there for months and months, from the very beginning in fact, before the end of the war, with plans to re-establish a new Iraqi army.

"That's what's been going on. We've already established one unit and others are underway," he said.

Drawing from the 500,000-strong former army, disbanded by coalition authority chief Paul Bremer in May, is seen as a way to accelerate the process of rebuilding the Iraqi armed forces, the Times noted.

"It's difficult work vetting people, sorting out the good from the bad," Rumsfeld went on. "Our folks have done a good job at it... you're always going to make mistakes."

Coalition forces are growing because of "fantastic success" recruiting Iraqi security forces, which now number about 100,000 and comprise the second-largest coalition partner after the United States itself, Rumsfeld said.

Plans call for 200,000-strong Iraqi security forces in different branches, including police and border guards, he added.

Rumsfeld confirmed that the 130,000 US troops now in Iraq will be replaced with other US troops in the first five months of 2004.

"What numbers will go in to replace them will be a function of what's happening with the security situation on the ground, and whether we continue to have this fantastic success in recruiting Iraqis," Rumsfeld said.

WAR.WIRE